What to Look For In A Licensed Mechanical Engineer

Licensed Mechanical Engineers

The California Business and Professional Code (BPC) describes the branch of mechanical engineering at §6731.6.

Mechanical engineering is that branch of professional engineering described in Section 6734.2 that deals with engineering problems relating to generation, transmission, and utilization of energy in the thermal or mechanical form and also with engineering problems relating to the production of tools, machinery, and their products, and to heating, ventilation, refrigeration, and plumbing. It is concerned with the research, design, production, operational, organizational, and economic aspects of the above.

The California Business and Professional Code (BPC) describes that a person practices mechanical engineering 6734.2, when performing the duties described above at §6736.1.

Any person practices mechanical engineering when he professes to be a mechanical engineer or is in responsible charge of mechanical engineering work.

Mechanical engineers spearhead the structural, machinery, energy, fluid, and other related aspects of a project to ensure that processes, products, systems, subsystems and parts are designed, developed according to specifications. The licensed mechanical engineer will monitor the whole project or manufacturing process from initial concept work, through design and development to finished product assessment. Companies need to seek Licensed Mechanical Engineer and engineering firms that can initiate and manage the project coherently, whether it is a manufacturing process, product design, fluid delivery systems, energy analysis, or one of the many projects that falls to the mechanical engineer, the broadest of the engineering disciplines. The following are some of the attributes that a company should look for when engaging for a mechanical engineer.

Personal attributes

The personal characters that help mold the right qualities for an engineer will affect the mechanical engineer’s interpersonal relations, thus to some extent, his performance. Engineering is a discipline that requires a high level of personal and interpersonal skills. Whether you are engaging an industrial system engineer, a processing engineer for a refinery or petrochemical facility, or an electric engineer for power plant, the engineer should have the following attributes:

Be able to think in mathematical and abstract dimensions. This will enable him or her to handle numeric calculations such as in product formulations, and analyzing costs of productions.

Communication skills are essential for an engineer so that he or she can develop reports on performance.

The Licensed Mechanical Engineer should have good attributes of a team player to integrate his team to offer optimal performance in order to reduce erroneous effects that can affect the quality of products, project schedule, cost, and performance of systems and subsystems leading to failures.

Educational qualifications

The basic qualification for a mechanical engineer is a bachelor’s degree, which is acceptable when obtained from a reputable and ABET accredited engineering college. (See BPC at §425(c) .) The period of obtaining a bachelor’s degree is substantial to impart the required knowledge and skills in a person pursuing mechanical engineering. This is generally the minimum required for licensing. Graduate degrees are helpful specialized knowledge, and mathematical modeling skills.

Line of specialization

The line of specialization is also another essential aspect, which helps determine how a person is knowledgeable in a particular field. There are mechanical engineers in the field of biomedical engineering, laser technology, energy, structural analysis, fluid flow, heat transfer, and nanotechnology, as well as manufacturing systems, and plants. There are engineers in design and development of heating systems, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Therefore, the particular skills of the Licensed Mechanical Engineer experts need to be in line with the company’s engineering solutions. Many engineers are qualified in multiple areas.

The reliability engineering aspect needs to be emphasized so that a company can meet consumer demands, quality standards, realize returns on investment (ROI), and contribute to environmental care. This skill crosses all branches, but is also a specialty.

Experience of the engineer

Project exposure helps an engineer gain the experience in order to perform his or her duties and obligations. Experienced professional engineers, Licensed Mechanical Engineers, will most likely have diverse skill sets necessary to make them successful: administrative, interpersonal, management, financial, as well as the core technical expertise.

Software Tools

Sometimes it is important that an engineering firm use software tools that are compatible with the company that engages. This is not usually a sticking point, but it can make certain transitions proceed smoothly. This is sometimes the case with CAD (computer aided design) and FEA (finite element analysis) tools.

Fees

The fee structure of the professional engineer needs to be examined before engaging. The fees will help determine how much the company will invest in the engineering design, review, or process. Many engineering firms can combine and blend the work of principal engineers, senior engineers, staff engineers, and associate engineers, to help efficiently develop a project budget that is economical.

Professional Association

The Licensed Mechanical Engineer and engineering firm that a company engages should be a member of engineering associations and trade associations that bring together professional engineers.

Environmental management consciousness

The manufacturing process and project engineering requires a sense of environmental care. As companies go green, there is need to integrate environmental consciousness in their processes of manufacturing in order to scale down waste, energy use, hazardous emissions, C02e (CO2 equivalent) emissions, and other soft aspects of green engineering.

Summary

In summary, the Licensed Mechanical Engineer and engineering firm that a company engages should have all the qualities that will help to lead the company to the completion of a successful project.